Idea for regional jail in northeast Georgia gets mixed reactions

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Posted 5:33PM on Monday, January 3, 2005

ATHENS - Overcrowded jail conditions and budget constraints in some northeast Georgia counties have prompted some local officials to propose building a regional jail, but the idea has received mixed reactions. At least six counties _ Athens-Clarke, Barrow, Jackson, Oconee, Oglethorpe and Madison _ have complained of an overflow of inmates in their jails, the Athens Banner-Herald has reported. The strain on county resources has prompted leaders to float around the idea for a regional jail that would serve three or four counties, but some say they have concerns about how the coordinated efforts would impact their own counties. "It's not easy to do that," Barrow County Commission Chairman Doug Garrison said of the regional jail. "We're already doing a regional concept with our water. The county has some experience in working with (multiple counties)." Barrow leaders also are considering building their own jail on a 150-acre tract of land that the county purchased in 2003 to replace its overburdened facility in downtown Winder, but nearby residents have strongly opposed that project. Many local officials say a number of questions about the regional jail concept need to be answered, including how many inmates it would accommodate, which counties it would serve and how the costs would be split among them. "I'm not opposed to some type of joint venture if it will save taxpayer money," Garrison said. "That's why I think we need to determine what our need is and then discuss this with our surrounding counties." In Jackson County, the jail has a capacity of 125 inmates, but typically holds between 150 and 160 and at times must contract with other counties to provide beds, said Sheriff Stan Evans. Rainy days also pose a problem for the almost 60-year-old facility, which has a leaky roof that sends deputies scrambling for buckets whenever clouds loom overhead. Evans said he needs more information before he can decide where he stands on the project. "I think our current situation with our current jail is one we're going to have to address in some form or fashion," Evans said. "I wouldn't rule out any option until it is given some thought and some consideration." Clarke County Sheriff Ira Edwards also said he was keeping an open mind to the regional jail idea. Last summer, commissioners were unwilling to support a new, 609-bed, $50 million-plus county project. But Oconee County Sheriff Scott Berry already has voiced his opposition to the regional jail. County leaders there already are planning to build their own $3.5 million jail in Watkinsville. Some say the overcrowding problems could be solved if only the state would take back its prisoners, although that's unlikely to happen because state prisons are hovering at full capacity. "If the state would get their prisoners, we probably wouldn't have a problem," Garrison said. "It becomes an unfunded mandate for counties to care for their prisoners for a period of time too." Corrections department spokeswoman Scheree Lipscomb has said there are no plans to expand the state prison system, although officials have been studying alternatives to incarceration, such as sending felons convicted of nonviolent crimes to reporting centers, where they must check in on a daily basis.